9 Year International Optimist

My cynical, liberal, Vermont friends (who I love) like to say that democracy cannot be imposed externally, it must come organically.

I think that's like saying becoming a millionaire doesn't count if you were born on third base (with a silver spoon in your mouth). It may not mean exactly the same thing as organic revolution... but it "counts".

Tell that to Japan. Tell it to Malaysia and Indonesia. Just what percent of the worlds democracy, per capita, originated without outside help?

With those three things, I'm really optimistic that the world will continue to improve. My children will not just see a melting pot, but a passport-melting-pot, of interracial and international marriages, trade, trust, and exciting new history of peace.

The dictators are falling, wealth is spreading, per capita well being is improving. There is still starvation and violence, but on a per capita basis, it's nothing like the centuries before.

The world is getting better and better.... We just need more equality, more trade, and not to destroy added value, let the best smartest poor students make the most they can of reuse and refurbishment in the "good enough" markets.

Its just the environment. It's the environment we are destroying that needs attention. Species extinction. This is why so many people are turning to environmental studies. The wars and democracies and economies and investments are all doing fine. The wealthy nations shouldn't panic just because the neighbors who used to be ten times poorer are now only half as poor.

I hope there are international USA-Iraqi or USA-Afghanistan marriages and children.